Rise & Shine: What teachers are saying about the new curriculum in Detroit

This has been a tough year for elementary school teachers in Detroit's main district. They’ve had to learn two new curriculums — math and reading — while trying to adapt their lessons to the different needs of different students. Teachers say the new curriculums require more time and preparation than they’re used to, and their challenge is made more difficult by the many Detroit students who need extra help to understand the material.

But six months into the district’s adoption of the new curriculums, Lori’s latest story shows how the programs, when implemented successfully, can engage and inspire students. Her story was the product of conversations with teachers across the city over the last several weeks. It offers an important look at one of the most significant reforms Superintendent Nikolai Vitti has made since arriving in Detroit two years ago.

Read on for more on that story and the rest of this morning’s headlines — and have a great day!

— Erin Einhorn, Bureau Chief

Rise & Shine is Chalkbeat’s morning digest of education news. Subscribe to have it delivered to your inbox.

CURRICULUM Tests that the district uses to track student progress show that “students are positively reacting to the new curriculum,” Vitti said. But the extra work has been tough on teachers. At a number of schools, teachers are coming together weekly after school to get help during study sessions. Chalkbeat

SCHOOL AIDSome lawmakers are pushing back on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s effort to stop the “raids” on the state’s school aid fund. She wants the money to go exclusively to K-12 schools instead of also supporting higher education as it has in recent years. Michigan Radio

BREAKFAST A local non-profit leader says the plan to offer free breakfast to every student in Oakland County could help “change the narrative about Michigan education.” CBSDetroit

COLLEGE This Detroit charter school student applied to 50 colleges and got accepted to 41 of them. WXYZTheGrioBlavity

NARCANAn increasing number of Michigan schools are stocking their first aid kids with a drug that reverses opioid overdoses. Detroit Free Press